Soul Survivors (2001)

Powerful

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

Blistering performances.

Recently I've read some reviews stating that "Soul Survivors" thought not being very well executed, has a smart and clever story. I don't know what those people consider "good" in this story; you don't get to really understand anything, things happen very randomly. If that wasn't enough, most scenes are VERY VERY predictable; you ALWAYS know what's happening next, just like you always know that a false (and cheap) scare is coming. And worse than that, there isn't one single real scare, they're all fake-- which irritates me very much. I can't say anything about the acting; I watched this flick with some lazy friends who can't stand watching a movie with subtitles, so I had to see this in the dubbed version-- by the way, Brazilian's dubbing is EXTREMELY lame. So that's pretty much it, "Soul Survivors" tries to copy "Urban Legend", "Scream" and other teen thrillers that were successful back in the 90's, but sadly ended up being much worse than those. Not to mention the terrible soundtrack these filmmakers chose. Don't ever waste your time on this mess-- I just don't give it a lower rating because at least they played an awesome Deftones' song in the final credits.

"After a night of partying, college freshman Cassie (Melissa Sagemiller) and her friends are involved in a bloody car accident that turns into a horrifying tale of the supernatural. Overwhelmed by startling hallucinations, Cassie's grip on reality slips further as she begins a desperate race against time to learn who her real friends are, who wants her dead, and who will be the Soul Survivor," according to the DVD sleeve description. Subtitled "The Killer Cut", this R-rated release boasts, "More blood! More sex! More terror than the theatrical release!" If you're looking for the promised high level of Blood! Sex! and Terror! you may want to look elsewhere. However, writer/director Steve Carpenter (not the Deftones dude) and cinematographer Fred Murphy do combine for some outstanding visual elements throughout this unfortunately stupid otherworldly story. The camera focuses mainly on sexy Ms. Sagemiller, who will make your knees weak. Bisexual Eliza Dushku (as Annabel) is another fantasy figure. And, the male-minded should love Wes Bentley (as Matt) and Casey Affleck (as Sean).The music by Daniel Licht and song selections are very good - a stroke of The Turtles' "You Showed Me" plays during the paint scene.****** Soul Survivors (9/6/01) Steve Carpenter ~ Melissa Sagemiller, Wes Bentley, Casey Affleck, Eliza Dushku

Like many, I was expecting an entirely different movie from what was shown on the previews for Soul Survivors - but sadly, got something else. It was released to theatres (shockingly) in 2002. It's now 2008 and I'm still kind of stumped.The movie has enough ingredients to make it a slasher/horror hit, but it's just too confusing - and mind twisting for it's own good. Don't go thinking I'm dumb. I do get the story, it's just....the way it was portrayed was, well, horrible. The movie has too many flashbacks and hinted twists that you end up racking your brain, thinking what the hell is going on. Now, I love a movie were I have to use my head, but this just takes the cake. They quickly ditched the "stalker" idea more than a quarter into the movie and focused more on the lead female having flashbacks and thinking she was insane. It just went down the drain from there.It's sad though as the cast are very talented. Plus the movie had a cool, horror vibe setting. So why the bad script? All I know is, when you see the poster for the movie + trailer, you think you're going to get a totally different movie.All in all it was a disappointment. The only reason I sorta enjoyed it was because of the gorgeous Eliza Dushku. But for non Eliza fans, I would take a pass on this one!

*Soul SPOILERS* On their way home from a rave, friends Cassie (Melissa Sagebrecht), Matt (Wes Bentley), Annabel (Eliza Dushku) and Sean (Casey Affleck) get in a terrible accident.Sean dies, and the other three try to get on with their life. Cassie, though, begins to experience mysterious phenomenons, like seeing and hearing Sean, mysterious dreams, and a lot of confusion...This movie stood on Artisan's shelf for more than a year, and after having watched it, I can understand why; the actors do their best (which in case of newcomer Sagebrecht really isn't much), but the script, which tries for a 'Carnival Of Souls' - 'Jacob's Ladder' thriller, is way too muddled, having the ending being both obvious and confusing (quite a task!).Nothing to say about the directing if not that it's the most anonymous this side of Alan Smithee.End line - this movie is boring. Handle with care.Soul Survivors: 3/10.